Is There a Home Remedy That is Effective for Repelling Mice?

by Inga Cryton | Last Updated: March 4, 2019

Mice will contaminate your food and leave their droppings all over your home. They also carry a variety of diseases. You have been trapping them, but it seems as if five new mice move in for every one that you trap. Your budget prevents calling an exterminator. Your pets and children play inside and outside so you don’t want to use mouse poison. Are there any good home remedies to keep mice away? Keep reading for tips and remedies that can help you solve your mouse invasion.

What Is a Good Home Remedy to Keep Mice Out?

Using home remedies to keep mice out has advantages over commercial remedies, but you may have to experiment to find one that is effective. You may also discover that what works in the beginning suddenly stops working. Mice are adaptive little creatures. They want to live with you because you provide food and a warm place in which to live. They can get used to many of the unpleasant remedies you use to repel them.

The important thing is to avoid getting discouraged. Sooner or later, you will find a safe and effective way to keep mice away. Start with blocking their way into your home. You probably already know about caulking any exterior holes, but you need to do more. Look around for interior entrances and pathways.

Three things that give you a clue are:

Feces.

Greasy spots where their bodies have rubbed.

Musty odors.

Mice will be nearby.

Look around for any place that a mouse might have squeezed through. Small entrances can be blocked by stuffing scouring pads tightly in them.

If you don’t find entryways, you will still know where mice are traveling. That’s where you will place the remedies you have prepared.

Starvation Helps. Next, stop the food supply. Your home, especially your kitchen, may look spotless to you, but it can look like a buffet to a mouse. Mice don’t take big bites. The tiniest crumb can be a meal for a mouse.

It’s a drag, but you must clean and clean again. As well as getting rid of anything a mouse might find tasty, if you use a strong-smelling cleaner, you can keep them from foraging in your home. Read this article to learn the answer to the question of does bleach get rid of mice.

Inside Your Home

Like most people, you are probably hesitant about using poisons in your home to get rid of mice. Because you make them yourself, home remedies are best for controlling mice inside. Some of the odors that will repel mice are also repellent to you.

Before you resort to those, try anything that smells minty.

Two kinds of mint that have been found to be helpful are:

Mint-flavored toothpaste rubbed on the edges of shelves or counter tops.

Candy mints, such as Altoids, placed in drawers, beneath sinks, or in cabinets.

You will have to refresh the toothpaste and replace the Altoids as the scent dissipates.

Outside

Although mice prefer to live inside with you, they will take up residence outside if they have to. Mice have a lot of natural predators, so they avoid open areas.

Instead, they will hide in anything they can find, including:

Projects you’re working on.

Tools.

Clutter.

Toys left lying around.

Mice will also make a home in any kind of debris.

If you have a lawn, try to keep it closely mowed so mice can’t hide in it. Overgrown areas need to be trimmed, as does shrubbery.

Plant Smart

Make use of a mouse’s aversion to strong smells by growing mint plants. You can plant them around the perimeter of your property and near the foundation of your home.

Other fragrant plants that help repel mice include:

Basil,

Lavender,

Rosemary,

Sage.

4 Fragrant Plants to Repel Mice

Depending on the shape and size of your property, you can plant these around the perimeter or in clusters.

Herbs also work well mixed in with other plants. If you can’t plant them where you think the mice are, pick them as they grow. Place the leaves or blooms in a glass jar filled with water and let them steep for a few days. Strain out the plant matter and spray the aromatic water daily wherever you think mice are hiding.

Mice are nocturnal, making them difficult to find in daylight.

Flowers with a strong fragrance, such as marigolds, will repel mice.

Others plants known to be effective include:

Allium,

Amaryllis,

Catnip,

Daffodils,

Elderberry.

If the mice appear to ignore the plants, then try this:

Pick the flowers.

Crush the blooms.

Spread the crushed flowers around.

You will need to repeat the process often as the fragrance of the crushed flowers will fade quickly.

Irritate Their Noses

If herbs and flowers prove to be ineffective over time, then try one of these tricks:

Sprinkle black pepper everywhere.

Sprinkle chili powder or cayenne pepper powder everywhere.

Mice travel close to the ground, sniffing as they go. Pepper irritating their noses will make them avoid the area.

Why Do Mice Resist Repellents?Most species of mice don’t travel long distances. They build their nests near a food source and spend their time eating, pooping, and reproducing. If they leave your home, they easily become prey or quickly succumb to the elements. A mother mouse also won’t leave her litter under most circumstances. Mice have a vested interest in staying right where they are.Once mice move in, you have hours of work and sometimes a lot of money getting rid of them. That’s why repelling them is essential. Because the outside world is a harsh place in which to live, mice will resist most repellents. Home remedies for keeping mice away allow you to try different ingredients without contaminating your home with a variety of poisons.

Poop Is Good

If you live on or near a farm, you might be able to obtain fresh cow dung. Dung isn’t pleasant for you to spread around, and you would certainly not want it anywhere except on the perimeter of your property. However, not only will the smell repel mice, they will find manure difficult to walk through.

You can also purchase dried coyote poop and snake poop at pet stores or online. Sprinkle the poop around where mice might be. They’ll think a predator is in the area and avoid it.

What Is a Good DIY Mouse Repellent?

Mice are repelled by three things:

Light,

Noise,

Smell.

Most home remedies rely on smell.

Some people have achieved success with toilet fresheners. You can break the cake kind into pieces, but avoid inhaling the fumes. Use fresheners that are enclosed in plastic intact. Fresheners can stain so you have to be careful where you place them. Although mice can climb, repellents work best placed at ground level or on the floor where mice walk. Keep all fresheners out of the reach of children and pets.

Hair clippings are a natural mouse repellent. You can use unwashed human hair or hair from your pets. The hair needs to be in small pieces. You can scatter it around outside safely. There is no cleanup necessary, as birds will use some of it to build nests and the rest will eventually deteriorate.

Aluminum foil keeps mice off counter tops and out of pantries. Simply place smooth or rumpled sheets of the foil wherever there is evidence of mice. Foil doesn’t have a smell, but mice won’t walk on it. No one knows quite why they avoid it, but they do. You can learn more about making a natural mouse repellent in this article.

The Top Five Home Remedies

There isn’t any one home remedy that will keep mice away for everyone. The following are remedies that have proven effective for some people and are worth a try.

They include:

Dryer sheets: mice don’t care for the smell. Some homeowners say only original Bounce will repel mice. Others report success with any brand.

Baking soda: sprinkle it anywhere you have seen droppings or other evidence of mice. Baking soda has a sharp odor that mice dislike. If they walk across it, you’ll see their footprints which will give you a better idea of where they’re nesting.

Bay leaves: sprinkle the crushed leaves in your pantry and anywhere else you’ve spotted evidence of mice. Mice normally eat seeds and grains, but they will also consume small insects. Bay leaves will also repel the insects, removing a mouse food source.

Onions and garlic: both of these are pungent. If the smell doesn’t bother you, dice either one and spread the pieces where you think mice are entering or foraging. If the aroma of fresh onion or garlic is a little too strong for you, use them dried flakes or as a powder.

Spices: use any spice you have on hand. You won’t know until you try which spice mice will hate. The freshest spices will have the strongest smell and be the most effective. You can sprinkle them around or enclose them in little sachets. Be sure to avoid any spices that have a sweet smell, as mice love sweets.

These remedies are all safe to use inside your house if you have children or pets, but it’s still a good idea to place them out of reach.

It can be hard to keep mice away. Doing so requires a combination of impeccable cleanliness, taking steps to repel mice, and killing the ones that do enter your home. Repelling mice with home remedies is preferred by many homeowners, especially those who want to avoid poisons and traps. Success requires persistence and experimentation.

About Inga Cryton

Welcome to PestKill. I have been working on pest extermination information for a long time and am excited to share this information with you. Here you will find information that is useful and easy to understand. Whether your issue is small pests such as insects, or large pests such as rodents, you will find helpful information here. I also provide product recommendations for my favorite pest extermination products. Feel free to contact me with any questions about pest extermination you have! Read More

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